inspirations & ideas from the west coast

A Year of New: Kombucha

A couple of years ago I was at a gathering at a friend’s house with a few people I didn’t know or know well, and we were all standing around in the kitchen (of course). We were talking about “foodie”-type stuff and someone said a word I didn’t understand and so I asked the person what it meant. A couple of people looked at me incredulously. “You don’t know what kombucha is?”, was their reply. And at that point in time, no I didn’t, and apparently I was the only one!

Fast forward two years later and I’ve heard people talking about kombucha many more times, but I’d still never gotten around to trying it. I’ve even thought about making kombucha myself at home but since I didn’t even know what it tasted like and it sounded like something that was going to have to sit on my kitchen counter for its whole life and take up valuable counter space, I have so far resisted that urge. Better to start with a store bought brand and see if I like it first, I thought.

Well, today I dropped into the new Whole Foods in Victoria and just happened to walk by a whole refrigerator case of kombucha. Aha! I thought. This is my moment! Not knowing which brand to pick, I bought the brand that looked like it had more bottles missing. Kind of like when you are choosing a restaurant and pick the one that seems crowded instead of empty (because obviously if other people like it, it must be good!), I picked the kombucha that looked like it was selling out fast. That brand was GTs Kombucha in Gingerade flavour.

I drank the kombucha on the way home, not knowing if I’m even actually supposed to drink a whole bottle of kombucha in one sitting! (Am I going to regret that?) Overall I thought it was really yummy and would have it again. I don’t tend to drink a lot of carbonated beverages but this was refreshing and it comes with some goodness I’m sure.

I still have a lot of questions about kombucha – still very much the newbie – but my first try was good. Are you drinking or making kombucha? Tell me which brands you buy or which recipes you use to make it at home. Why do you drink kombucha? What else should I know?

Additional note from Beth: I haven’t blogged on this site in more than 3 1/2 years, so hi there! After being a terribly “unregular” blogger for the last while over on my business website, I thought I’d start 2017 with trying to get back to doing some new and fun stuff in my life, and using my personal blog to capture it. After all, that’s why I started this blog back in 2005 – and because I actually really do love writing – and maybe it’s time to recapture some of that. “Year of New” was a series of blog posts I did a bunch of years ago when I spent a year doing things that I’d never done before. I want to do this again! If you have suggestions for me of things I can do in Victoria, BC that could be fun and new please comment.